Hike Cedar Mountain and East Cedar Mountain San Rafael Swell BLM, UT

Directions

Route Map

Download GPX

Cedar Mountain and East Cedar Mountain GPX Track

I need to offset my substantial website costs somehow! You can download a hike/drive GPX to assist you here. Before sharing my GPX tracks with others, please remember my site is otherwise a free resource.

Add to Cart

View Cart

Cedar Mountain and its slightly smaller neighbor East Cedar Mountain are nice peaks on the west side of the San Rafael Swell. Aside from a loose Class 3 move, this route is Class 2. The trailhead is likely reachable by any car. We came in on County Road 920 (38.7645, -111.34961) and navigated to the trailhead, starting with Cedar Mountain first. Whiley and I began by paralleling a cattle fence, doing our best to avoid the large quantities of cryptobiotic soil. Please avoid busting the crust. We wound around through the desert for a half mile before reaching a prominent gully to the north of Cedar Mountain, starting up the first large slope we located. The slope brought us above a small dryfall, which we crossed on top of before ascending to the rim above (Class 2).

Once on the rim, we headed first to Peak 6910. The more efficient way to get to the peak would be to use our descent route as an ascent as well, but we wanted to make this into more of a loop. We kept just below a bubbly-looking black volcanic cliff band and found a Class 2 notch to ascend to higher ground. Once along the mellow ridge crest, we continued to the summit. Class 2 brought us down the south slope of Peak 6910, and we headed east toward Cedar Mountain.

Cedar Mountain is pretty straightforward, but there are lots of small cliff bands to avoid around its base. The route I'd recommend heads up the obvious steep north ridge/slope with some Class 2 boulder-hopping, a meander across some flatter terrain, followed by a couple of short zig-zags to reach the ridge crest. This brought us to just below the summit of Cedar Mountain, where a soft dirt sloping ridge gave us nice views. The last hundred feet to the summit requires some loose Class 2+ scrambling. It's easier if you wrap around the west side of the peak and ascend from the west instead of the north.

Back at the cars, we continued east toward East Cedar Mountain. A steady Class 2 slope took us to just below the summit. The grade leading up was pleasant for morning exercise and sustained. A short section of soft-dirt ridge with steep slopes on either side leading to a substantial drop-off gave us minor pause. Just past the soft dirt was a gnarly-looking Class 3 eroded dirty face. The result of a fall would likely be fine, but the steep slopes didn't give us too much confidence. We took our time digging our hands into the dirt as we made our way up this ten-foot crux. The summit was a few Class 2+ boulder obstacles away with no exposure, and the views were the best of the hike. We thought East Cedar Mountain was much better than Cedar Mountain. We returned the way we came.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Peak 6910

6910 ft

410 rise

Cedar Mountain

7075 ft

1415 rise

East Cedar Mountain

7066 ft

946 rise

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!

Shot from the trailhead toward Cedar Mountain (left). The prominent gully we're heading to is right of center.

You can see a dryfall left of center. We took the slope in the center to avoid the dryfall, crossed over the dryfall, and reached the rim.

Above the dryfall, view toward the rim.

Above the rim, view back to the trailhead and at East Cedar Mountain, center.

Peak 6910 visible center. We wrapped along the base of the bubbly-looking volcanic cliffs.

Notch in the cliff to gain higher ground.

Along the ridge leading to Peak 6910.

View back along the ridge, East Cedar Mountain visible top right.

Peak 6910 ahead.

Peak 6910 summit, view to the west.

Peak 6910 summit, view toward Cedar Mountain (right) and East Cedar Mountain (left). The route we plan to take heads down the Class 2 slope below and over to the slope that's right of center in this photo.

Looking back toward Peak 6910 and the Class 2 descent.

Approaching Cedar Mountain.

Cliffy stuff guarding Cedar Mountain. Some minor zig-zagging brought us to the base of the peak, Class 2.

Cedar Mountain.

View back along a soft dirt ridge just below the summit.

View back along the summit ridge to Cedar Mountain, East Cedar Mountain visible top right. I didn't get a shot of it, but just behind me is a steep Class 2 slope leading to the summit. It's easier if you wrap around the west side of the peak and ascend from the west instead of the north.

Cedar Mountain summit, view north toward Peak 6910.

On our way back, headed toward East Cedar Mountain.

Class 2 along East Cedar Mountain.

On our way up East Cedar Mountain, view toward Cedar Mountain (left) and Peak 6910 (right).

Class 2.

Making our way up East Cedar Mountain.

View back.

Approaching the crux.

Class 3 crux visible ahead. I left the sheer dropoff on the far right visible in the photo for reference.

Class 3 move.

View back from the top of the Class 3 move. You can see drops on either side of the dirty ridge.

East Cedar Mountain summit, view northwest.

East Cedar Mountain summit, view west. You can see the Henry Mountains in the distance.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!